Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,509, settled in 1832.
Arcola is one of the best-graded places in America: an A+, 14th among Virginia's 249 graded towns. It is among the healthiest towns in the country on CDC estimates, the median household earns $129K, and its schools outperform 88% of the state's. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $638K, 5 years of the Washington metro’s $127K median household income. Arcola’s median rent is $2,577 a month, above both Virginia’s towns ($1,760 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). On hazard risk, just 5 of Virginia’s 372 towns do better. Arcola is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns.
Where Arcola beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Arcola | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with COPD | 2.4% | 6.2% |
Where Arcola’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Virginia), ordered by how far Arcola is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 8%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 2016 and 4 maps from 1933 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Arcola. Close and well known come first.
Big draw27 mi National park siteWhite House311K visitors a year
Big draw27 mi National MemorialWashington Monument204K visitors a year
Big draw25 mi LandmarkArlington National Cemetery
Big draw26 mi LandmarkUnited States Triumphal Arch
Big draw28 mi MuseumSmithsonian Institution30.0M visitors a year
5 mi MuseumSteven F. Udvar-Hazy Center1.6M visitors a yearWhite House: This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire port, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Washington Monument: Oren Rozen, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Arlington National Cemetery: Protoant, Public domain · United States Triumphal Arch: Hstoops, CC0 · Smithsonian Institution: Highsmith, Carol M., 1946-, photographer, Public domain · Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center: Unknown, CC BY-SA 3.0
Arcola is unincorporated, so Loudoun County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Sep 30, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Arcola.
Arcola draws workers from South Riding and beyond, has less COPD than most of Virginia and pairs an A for schools with high home prices.
Its widest gap with Virginia is COPD: 2.4% of its 1,702 adults have COPD, against 6.2% statewide.
7.9% of adults report frequent physical distress in Arcola. Arcola beats the Virginia average on 23 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 13% of adults report frequent mental distress in Arcola.
| Arcola | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 7.9% | 12% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 33% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 34% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.2% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Arcola | VA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with COPD | 2.4% | 6.2% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 2.4% | 6.1% |
| Fewer adults treating high blood pressure | 67.1% | 76.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $638K.
Its public schools are run by the Loudoun County Public Schools. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elaine E. Thompson ElementaryLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 756 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within VA on state tests and graduation
2,690 jobs are based in Arcola, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 666 in 2013 to 2,690.
Most working residents leave Arcola for work: only 3% work in town. Jobs based in Arcola grew to 2,690 in 2023, 2,024 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Reston (8%), Washington (7%) and Arlington (6%).
| Arcola | Virginia towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $129,000 | $101,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.1% | 5% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 7.1% | 7.7% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Arcola’s FEMA risk score is 2 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Arcola has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 25° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
61.5% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.5% across Virginia. The median property tax bill is $5,724, against $2,790 across Virginia, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
61% of Arcola households own their home.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3 within 15 miles of the center of Arcola
About 9 of every 100 Arcola residents are enrolled in college, against 7 across Virginia.
2 places in Arcola on the National Register of Historic Places.
Census-designated place in Virginia
Arcola is a census-designated place in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. The population as of the 2020 United States Census was 2,412.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Arcola.
| Town | VA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arcola | #14 | A+ | D | — | A | A+ |
| Brambleton | #8 | A+ | D | — | A | A+ |
Arcola and Brambleton report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Arcola with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Arcola grades A+ overall, better than 96% of U.S. towns and #14 of 249 in Virginia. It grades A+ for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $638,000, 55% above the Virginia typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
